The province of Prince Edward Island in Canada, also known as the PEI, offers a very good opportunity to prospective immigrant workers for settling there. Though it is the smallest province of Canada in terms of size, it offers an exceptional quality of life and has various attractions. It is the birthplace of the confederation of Canada and is home to safe and close-knit communities.

The rural areas of the PEI are very good for settling down because they offer many job opportunities to the immigrants. The reason for this is the ageing population which is leading to a fall in the number of labourers.

As the requirement for a strong and skilled labour force is on the rise in the rural areas, the candidates applying for settlement in those areas are getting the first preference in the immigration process. The new provincial government plans are aiming towards providing easy and quick immigration to those who are willing to settle in the rural areas of PEI like Kings County and Prince County whose population has shrunk over the past ten years. At present, most of the immigrants are concentrating on Charlottetown which is the capital of the province.

It has been decided that four new advisory councils are going to advise the immigration officials of PEI about the specific labour requirements of the local businesses. This information is to be passed on to the immigration officials in different countries so that they can look for immigration candidates with the right skills and send them to PEI.

Atlantic Immigration Pilot

This is an immigration program meant for the four Atlantic provinces of Canada, including PEI. This program has the aim of bringing in more than 2,000 immigrants to the PEI region every year. The program has divided the immigration process for the workers into three streams or categories which are as follows:

– Atlantic High Skilled Program (AHSP)- This is meant for candidates who have a full-time job offer with a year’s contract in the position levels O,A or B specified by the NOC or National Occupational Classification.

– Atlantic Intermediate-Skilled Program (AISP) – This is meant for international graduates who have a full-time job offer for an unspecified duration in the NOC position levels O, A, B or C.

– Atlantic International Graduate Program (AIGP) – This program targets international graduates who have a two-year post-secondary qualification which has been obtained from a public-funded educational institution in the Atlantic region. A one year full-time job offer is also required in the O, A, B or C positions of the NOC.

There are separate work experience and education requirements for each of the streams. The Atlantic Immigration Pilot aims at providing lucrative immigration opportunities to foreign skilled workers and international graduates including permanent residence so that the labor requirements of the businesses are met.

This program does away with the requirement of LMIA for temporary foreign worker immigration. Instead, temporary work permits are issued to the skilled immigrants so that they can move to Canada along with their families immediately while their applications for working and settling in the PEI region are still being processed.

This an employer driven program because it only allows those workers to apply who have a valid job offer. The worker immigration requirements are as follows:

– AHSP and AISP- One year work experience in an occupation similar to the job offer is required and should be equivalent to 1,560 hours. Presence of a high school or post-secondary diploma or degree along with Educational Credential Assessment is mandatory to ensure its validity and equivalence to a Canadian credential. Language fluency levels must also be passed.

– AIGP- International Graduates do not need to have any work experience. They must have at least a two-year degree from a government institution in an Atlantic province. They should have graduated in the twelve months before the application date. They should have had a visa to study or work in Canada at the time of graduation. The language fluency requirements are similar to the AHSP and AISP programs.

There are Provincial Nominee Programs too which allow Express Entry into any of the provinces including the PEI. There is a huge scope for skilled workers to get immigration permit to the rural areas of the Canadian provinces like the PEI.

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